World's Most Determined Mailman
by IchigogichI
Summary: Erich Hartmann, world's most determined mailman, attempts to get revenge on the one who shot him in the head and stole his package, and bring the NCR back on top.
1. Primm and Proper

Erich Hartmann slowly gained consciousness, "You got what you were after, so pay up." He heard one voice demand. His glasses had fallen off and were broken, but he had bigger problems at the moment, "I don't want to hang around him any longer than I have to, guy's almost as big as a super mutant."

"You're cryin in the rain pally." another voice retorted.

He sighed, looking at the ropes around his wrists, he had drawn the short straw twice, once in the fact that he had the actual delivery and once again in the fact that someone got the jump on him while he was on his way.

"Hey, look who's waking up." A third voice said.

"Would you get it over with?" first voice.

"Maybe Khans kill people without looking them in the face, but I ain't a fink, dig?" Second voice.

Erich knew who he was by his suit and diction, he was a chairman. Erich growled, "A fucking chairman hires a couple Great Khans to take down a single courier?" He laughed, "Not a fink? Not a fink? You're a rich guy throwing his dick around and pissing on the little guy. Last I checked, that snugly fits the definition of fink." Erich taunted.

Benny pulled Maria out of his jacket and hit Erich in the face with it.

Erich laughed, "You already dug the hole. You intend to kill me. I will survive, and I will kill you." Erich spat blood at Benny, missing entirely.

"Well, this game was rigged from the start." Benny said softly, pointing Maria at Erich's head and firing. The bullet hit him square in the forehead, lodging itself in the bone. Erich fell over, fighting to keep conscious.

"Ha!" Erich shouted in defiance. Benny fired again.

* * *

Erich woke up in Doctor Mitchell's office, clutching his forehead. He winced, "Did you dig me up Doc?"

"No, that was Victor." He replied slowly, "But I patched you up, here, have a look, tell me how I did." He handed Erich a reflectron, there was an area on his forehead that was mottled, but other wise his white skin on his face was undisturbed. He still had his long nose, and short red hair. He had grown a scruffy beard while he had been in a coma.

"Thanks Doc," Erich sat up, "Where's my stuff?"

"Well, I have to make sure you have back all your faculties." Mitchell said, concerned for his patient.

Erich stood slowly, towering three whole foot over the doctor, "A man shot me in the head and took my delivery, this has been my job for years and I have never even so much as delivered a single package late. I have two reasons for revenge, my reputation and getting fucking shot." He breathed in slowly, "Where is my stuff?"

"Now calm down there. It's by the door, I'm giving you my old pipboy as well, useful for helping a body survive out there. It does diagnostics, has a geiger counter, the works." Doc Mitchell said quietly, pointing to the shelving unit they were stored on.

Erich dressed in his duster made of bighorner skins, picked up his home-made antimateriel rifle and his ammo boxes, storing them in his pockets. He growled at his missing hand forged pistol, "The help must have taken it for themselves..." He breathed out slowly and put his new pipboy on his arm, "Thanks for patching me up Doc, I'm Erich, and after I am done with dealing with the trash that got the jump on me, I will be back to repay my debt to you in any way I can. Thank you."

Erich left Doc Mitchell's house and went to find Victor.

"Robot, you see where the men who got me went?"

"They went South, to Primm." He said.

"Thank you, Victor, I will be getting them, sorry I seem to be wasting my life which you took part in saving." Erich breathed in slowly then began sprinting down the road south to Primm. _Maybe Boss Nash saw them... _He thought to himself as he sprinted south.

He approached the town and was stopped by an NCR trooper, warning him of danger in Primm, "Well, if Boss Nash is in trouble... What happened to Sheriff Mcbain?"

"I don't know about the local law, but a bunch of our convicts are loose in the town." He said.

"Fuck..." Erich went around the fence surrounding Primm and put himself up on a hill on the Northwest side. He looked down the scope, seeing things clearly for the first time he had been shot, he groaned at the reminder he didn't have his glasses anymore.

He loaded his weapon and looked down the scope again. He shot the first convict. He looked around for more, seeing two others, he took them out. He saw mines out on the bridge and destroyed them. He put his gun away and went back down to Primm.

He entered the Vikki and Vance Casino, seeing his boss, "Mr. Nash, what happened with McBain?"

"No idea, but the criminals have captured Beagle." Nash sighed.

"We can't have that, we need someone who can fire a gun without pissing himself... I know it's not ideal... But I think we should get the NCR to take over the town, after all, they're responsible for this mess." Erich sighed, "On another note, have you seen a man in a checkered suit pass through here?"

"Well, yeah, I didn't hear where they were going but Beagle was real interested in them, why?" Johnson asked.

"He's the one who stole my package." Erich rolled his eyes, "I guess I have to save the coward now, don't I..." Erich slumped his shoulders. He picked up guns off of the dead convicts, sighing at the small bullets, it might take a couple shots to take them down.

Erich opened the Bison Steve door and peeked in. The criminals were looking away. He aimed his antimaterial rifle at him and shot the first one. Rather than aim and fire a new shot he dropped his gun and dove for the cover. He lifted his gun over the cover and fired off a few shots to ensure that the Powder Ganger would stay behind cover. He jumped out from his own cover and ran around the corner, firing a few shots before going back behind the wall. There were two more Powder Gangers in the hall. He cursed at his terrible aim, wishing he had glasses, he would have to see Usanagi for a new pair. Erich closed his eyes, breathing slowly.

"He fucking shot me in the leg!" He heard one of the convicts shout.

"Come out you son of a bitch!" The other one shouted.

He pulled out the second gun he picked off a convict and complied. It was several shots before the two dropped.

Erich breathed a sigh of relief, dropping the two guns. He remembered that someone said they stored a gun in a safe in the Bison Steve gift shop.

Erich went to get his Antimaterial Rifle, aiming it at the locking mechanism in the floor. He fired two shots, which were bound to get attention, but the safe was open. He pulled off the door and pulled out Lucky. He loaded it and pointed it at the door, waiting for someone to come to it. A single convict showed up. He shot him three times. The convict fell to the floor.

Erich reloaded the gun, peeking out into the hall. No one else had come yet. He dual wielded his guns, striding down the hall.

He leaned into the cafeteria, seeing two men outside of the kitchen. One with a flamer. He concentrated his fire on that one until he went down. Lucky was out of bullets, but the other one had run up with him, it was simple to shoot him in the head point blank with the other gun. He dropped the gun and pulled the third one out of his jacket as the final Convict came out of the kitchen.

He swung his tire iron and Erich put three shots in his chest. Erich holstered the gun and walked to the kitchen, finding Beagle on the floor, "Ok Beagle, you can stop pissing yourself, the cavalry is here, we're gonna get you out of here, you're gonna tell me about the man in the checkered suit and then the NCR will take care of the rest."

"Well then... I guess we should get me out of here so I can tell you about those men." Beagle said with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah." Erich untied him and made him stand, "If we run into any trouble, use your gun, I know you have a problem with battle, but if you don't help, I am much bigger than you, I will use you as a shield."

"First you tell me that we're gonna be under martial law, then you threaten my physical being. You're shaping up to be a good friend already. I don't know why we never talked before." Beagle said sardonically.

"Yeah, yeah." Erich and Beagle walked out of the Hotel, "Now, I need you to tell me, where those men went."

"Well, now that I am safe, I can remember clearly, they said they were going to Primm through Nipton."

Erich nodded before walking to the NCR encampment.

"You're responsible for the mess of convicts here at Primm, your convicts, you need to clean out the remaining criminals and keep the town safe." Erich sniffed.

"Well, we don't exactly have the resources for that kind of deal, we're barely holding on as it is. We'd need to get more resources from the Mojave Outpost. Talk to the Major Knight there, you'll need to convince him to give us more support." Lieutenant Hayes explained, stroking his temples.

Erich nodded, "Well, I will be heading there then." Erich left the tent and once again began sprinting south. He made it to the Mojave outpost nearly without event. He had to climb on top of the Nipton Reststop and take down a few radscorpions. He climbed down and went up the road to the Outpost.

He entered and encountered Major Knight, putting on his best friendly smile as Erich walked up to him, "Caravan, citizen or pilgrim?" he asked, his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Citizen." Erich smiled broadly.

"Thanks, just need something for the logbook."

"You didn't tell me your name."

"Oh – Knight." he frowned, "You must not be from around here. If so... it doesn't do to get too friendly." He said shyly, looking down at his desk.

"Well, we should hang out when you have some off time." Erich smiled, clearing his throat, "Well, I need to talk to you about Primm, they could use some support. If you were to say, send in enough troops to take over the town, it would get a foothold for the trade route, so, what do you say?"

Knight folded his hands on the desk, "Well then, I see the wisdom in that, I'll radio for a unit to head to Primm and provide additional support."

"Hey, you got a bar here?" Erich asked.

"Yeah, next building over." Major Knight replied.

Erich nodded, going over to the building. He saw Sharon, "Oh, hey Sharon, something wrong?"

"My caravans were burnt to ash... I got nothing left!" She griped.

"Well then, wanna come with me, we can get revenge on whoever burned your caravans, while I get revenge on the guy who stole a delivery I was making." Erich smiled.

"Well, sure then, it would be good to get the help of an old friend." She smiled, blushing from the whiskey, "But... I can't get here because I'm still a caravan and the Ranger isn't letting us out until the critters on the road north of here are cleared out."

"Well, I see a single, very attractive woman. Come on, we'll talk to the Ranger." Erich smirked.

"All right." She stood.

"Wait a moment, one sunset sarsaparilla, please." He smiled.

The bartender nodded and handed him his drink. He searched his pockets, pulling out a five, he winced.

Cass covered the rest of the cost, placing a few caps on the counter, "Come on, let's go." Erich nodded and twisted open the bottle and placing the cap in her hand.

"Never liked caps as currency, even if the exchange rate is shit." Erich said softly.

He drank as they walked to Major Knight, "Erich Hartmann and Sharon Cassidy will be leaving."

"I don't see a Sharon Cassidy on the list. Cassidy Caravans?" Major Knight asked.

"Cassidy is all that's left of it, therefore she is an individual at this moment and doesn't need to be restricted here by the caravan rules, besides, we can take care of a few pests." He winked at Major Knight.

"All right, two individuals leaving the Outpost, have a nice day." he said sheepishly.

Erich nodded and escorted her out. They walked back north to Primm, "After I get my boss' town safe, we can head out towards Nipton and Novac." He looked to Nipton, seeing the smoke. He breathed in and out slowly. He would have to take care of that when he got to it. They arrived at the NCR encampment, and entered Hayes' tent, "Ok, Hayes, they're sending reinforcements, clean up the town." Erich left it at that, immediately turning and heading out.


	2. Nip, Tuck, Vac

"Hey, Sharon, you feel comfortable with me carrying you?"

"Excuse me?" Cass grumbled.

"I've worked for years to be able to sprint tirelessly with a large amount of gear, carrying you would be nothing and I would rather not just walk." Erich explained.

Sharon turned brighter red, "Ok..."

Erich crouched down so she could hold onto his shoulders. He stood, grabbing her legs, "Holding on tight?"

"Yeah, can we just hurry up then?"

Erich nodded, sprinting back south. He ran along the crumbling road and nearly tripped along the way.

He stopped outside of Nipton and set down Cass. It was nearly nightfall. He pulled out his antimateriel rifle and looked down the scope. Picking off the Powder Ganger freely running around and the Legion members. He had to reload once to take out the Legion dogs.

He put his gun up and crouched for Cass to get on his back again, and sprinted into the town.

"I know that my people went to Novac from here, but I have to take these people down from the crosses..." Erich sighed, cutting them down. His stomach grumbled and he sighed again. He butchered a few of the dogs, cooking them, giving out pieces to the Powder Gangers as well.

"Hey, what about Boxcars? They broke his legs and put him in the store." One of the Powder Gangers said.

Erich nodded and took a piece of cooked dog meat to him, "Hey, Boxcars, right? You should eat." He held out the piece of meat and Boxcars took it, chewing thoughtfully.

"Hey man, you all right." Boxcars frowned, "What happened to those Legion fucks?"

"Dead, all of them." Erich said, eating his own piece of meat.

"Good, fucking broke my legs, bashed them in with hammers." He grumbled.

"I suppose that's unlucky since I came along. Your friends are fine, beat up and bruised, but I got them down and now they're eating, probably exhausted. You should get them to carry you somewhere. So, Legion took over the town or something, why did your legs get busted while the others were crucified, and there was some ugly fuck running around, who I also shot on the assumption he was with the Legion." Erich took another bite.

"Oh, Swanick? Fuck that guy. But anyways, we come into town, had a deal with the mayor, to capture some NCR troops and hold them for ransom. Next thing we know, we were surrounded by Legion. The guy with the dog on his head told us about how we were sinners and needed to be punished, but not all of us. He started passing out lottery tickets. Lucky losers were decapitated, I guess cuz it was quick. Others were crucified, third place was enslaved, I got second place and got my knees busted, and fuck-ass out there won. He got to go free." Boxcars scoffed.

"Some of them were enslaved? Fuck... Well, I got enough on my plate." Erich finished his food and left, "Sharon, we gotta go, Nipton, hop on." He crouched and Cass got on his back. He sprinted off down the road.

A Jackal ambushed them, shooting at them. Erich set down Sharon, pulling out his stolen pistols, shooting back at the Jackals. Sharon took him down.

"Thanks Sharon."

"What happened to your sharpshooting? Your aim sucks, you should have been able to kill that guy five times in the time it took me to draw." Cass criticized.

Erich mimed taking off his glasses and crushing them.

"Oh... Sorry, I guess I hadn't noticed..." Cass said shyly.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'll be getting a new pair from Doctor Usanagi when we get up there." Erich said with a sigh.

"Well, since I am currently a better shooter than you, perhaps we should walk side by side so that we don't get shot up." She suggested.

"Yeah yeah..." He said waving her off. They walked the lonely road north together. They stopped at Ranger Station Charlie.

"Civillians, what do you want?" one of the rangers asked.

"Hi, I am Erich Hartmann, and I just need to know if there was a man in a checkered suit who came up this way." Erich requested.

"I'm sorry, but Ranger reports are strictly off limits to civillians." the ranger replied.

"Very well. Thank you for your time." Erich said, waving as he headed back north with Cass.

They saw the dinosaur of Novac and quickened their pace, running up north. They saw a sniper in the lookout and Erich trained his rifle on him, looking through the scope.

He saw a hispanic man looking down his own rifle down at him.

Erich dropped his rifle, waving at the ex first recon. He waited for ten seconds before slowly bending down to pick up the rifle. He waited for a warning shot. When there was none he slowly grabbed it, slinging it back up over his shoulder. He walked into Novac with Cass, walking up to the dinosaur. They walked through a shop where a man tried pushing dino figurines on them. They went up the stairs to the lookout. Erich slowly opened the door, "Hello, I'm the sniper that was on the other end." Manny turned, pointing his gun at him, "Relax, not gonna hurt you. I just want to know if you've seen a man in a checkered coat recently. He stole from me and I was told he might have come up this way."

"He might have. But I got my own problems here, if you know what I mean." He said.

"How much is this gonna cost me?" Erich said with a growl.

"Listen, we got a little ghoul problem where a lot of the people gather scrap. REPCONN test site." he said, "It would be helpful to all of us and we would be grateful if you could take care of it."

"And if I do it you'll give me the information I want?" Erich asked.

"Yeah." Manny said.

Erich groaned, "Come on then Cass. We got some ghouls to clean out."

"I'm not so sure about this." She said softly.

"Come on." Erich ordered. He walked out of the lookout and down the stairs to the shop. He walked out the door. Erich went door to door, looking through the windows. The first empty place he busted down the door.

"What are you doing?" Cass asked.

"Well, let's see just how much our friend really knows." Erich began to ransack the room, he found a piece of paper with the password for the terminal written on it, "Why even make a password if you're just gonna write it down and put it in the same room..." Erich pondered as he typed it in. He found a file about the Great Khans and Benny, "Boulder City." Erich smiled, "We're closing the gap." He walked away from the computer, Cass following behind him.

"Hey, you shouldn't have destroyed that guy's door." She said.

"I'm hunting down a few guys who shot me, and he refused to help unless I clear out a bunch of ghouls?" Erich laughed, "Asshole."

"Yeah, but you didn't need to thrash his home." Cass said.

Erich paused as they were walking out of Novac, "No, I guess I didn't."

"Aren't you going to apologize?" Cass asked.

"Am I going to apologize to the law for trashing his house, when the only way they can enforce is killing." Erich paused for a moment, pretending to think, "Should I?"

"Point made." Cass said with a groan.

Erich nodded as they began to walk north to the interchange towards Boulder City.

Erich arrived outside of Boulder city to see that the NCR had set up a barricade on the outside.

"Oh great." Erich walked up to the man in charge, "Let me guess, the Great Khans?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" He asked.

"A man who was with them shot me and stole a package I was meant to deliver to the Strip." Erich explained.

"Well, we're at a bit of a standoff with them. They have some of our men as hostages so we need to negotiate with them." He explained.

"Perhaps I can negotiate with them." Erich said.

"Well, I'm willing to try anything at this point, considering the moment we rush in there, they kill the hostages." Erich nodded, walking past him, opening the door to the barricade. Cass waited outside. He walked past the soldiers standing inside to where the Great Khan's were gathered in a shop.

"Don't come any closer-" Jessup said, Erich pointed Lucky at him.

"Yes yes yes, now tell me, which of you took my pistol?" Erich asked, "And don't play dumb, you guys were rather close to me in that graveyard." Erich said.

One of the Great Khans pulled out the gun, fumbling as he set it on the counter. Erich picked it up.

"Ok, now here's the deal. You guys are going to let the hostages go. And when you do, the NCR will escort you out to wherever the hell you want." Erich explained, "But before we do any of that. Where's Benny?"

"He uhh... He ditched us and went to the Tops, here's his lighter, he dropped it." Jessup said tossing the lighter to him, "What are you going to do to him?"

"The same thing he did to me, with notably bigger bullets." Erich explained calmly.

"I- I see." He replied quietly.

"Ok, now let the hostages go. Or I will have to force you to." Erich said, turning his back on the Great Khans. There was a small amount of bickering and then the hostages were sent out.

He walked out the door, "Hey, thanks for getting the hostages out, but I got a problem, command said to go in, hostages or not."

"If you have a conscious and a brain in your head, you will escort these men back to Great Khan territory." Erich explained quietly, walking past him.

"Uhhh... Yeah..." He said.

Cass followed Erich out, "What was that all about?"

"The Strip. He is on the Strip." Erich explained, he put Lucky and his custom gun away, "We need 2 grand." Erich pulled out the guns he had pulled off of people and a few cases of the bullets, making sure to leave the bullets for Lucky alone, "I need to keep Lucky in case I need to sneak my gun past casino security." Erich commented to himself. He began walking North to Vegas, Cass following behind him.


	3. Big Man

Erich stopped by the New Vegas clinic, "Doctor Usanagi." He said with a smile, "I uhh..."

"You broke your glasses again and you need another pair." Usanagi sighed, "We lose a lot of money covering your ass!" She shouted at him.

"I'm sorry." Erich said, looking down, "I'll make it up to you."

"Yeah yeah, we have a pair ready for you." Doctor Usanagi said, "Just make sure to pay off your tab soon." She pulled out a glasses case from her desk, handing it to him, "Don't screw 'em up, I'm not giving you a new pair till you cover what you owe us. We have a lot more people to help, in a lot more meaningful ways."

"Ok, tell you what, after I finish my current job, I will make it up to you, I will help clean up freeside and pay off my tab." Erich promised.

"All right, I'll hold you to it. And I hope you don't just mean cleaning up garbage." Usanagi said, looking at him sternly.

"I'll make sure Dixon stops selling the poisoned shit he has." Erich promised.

"I suppose that will have to be good enough." Usanagi said, "See Julie at the Mormon Fort, I better hear from her saying that you've done something to help." She lectured.

"Yes, yes, yes." Erich said, walking backwards out of the medical center, "I'll do that." he promised.

He looked up at the blue sky, sighing, "Let's go Cass, I could use a break from the heat. Need to sell the shit we picked off the convicts and the Legion."

"What?" Cass protested, "Why?"

"We need to pass the 2000 cap credit check at the gate." Erich said, "That's 5000 NCR dollars because even though I could take any thugs we meet, I don't want to attract them with a jingling bag of bottle caps. I don't like wasting bullets."

Cass snickered, "Ok, fine."

"To the Vendortron." Erich announced, walking towards the gun runners booth.

Cass followed, hanging her head low, "We need to find someplace to rest." She said softly, "We've been up for over a day."

Xavier sighed, "Sure." He walked up to the vendortron, selling off all of the excess equipment, "You still pay out in NCR dollars, right?"

"Affirmitive." The vendortron fed 7225 NCR dollars through and a single cap.

Xavier took the roll of bills, pocketing it, "Come on, we can afford a room for the night at the Wrangler." Xavier said.

"Thank you." Cass said with relief.

Erich walked over the East gate to freeside, opening it. The smell of decay filled his nostrils. He saw children chasing a rat. He put a bullet through the rat. They ran up to the rat and crouched next to it, "Kids, I will give you 100 dollars to not eat that rat."

"Sure mister." He handed them the 100 dollar bill and they ran off.

"They're probably gonna eat something else rotten... Except now they'll pay for it." Erich said quietly.

"And they'll come back for the rat later." Cass added.

Erich sighed, walking past the dead rat. He looked to Dixon, grimacing at the example of Freeside filth. He walked to the separator of the two parts of Freeside. He opened the bus's doors and walked through. He walked past the wrangler crier, heading to the casino. "Hey there Garret Twins, we'd like a room."

"Sure," James said, "160 caps."

Erich forked out 400 NCR dollars.

"Thanks, you know where it is." James said, picking up the bills and putting them in a drawer.

Erich walked upstairs while Cass ordered whiskey.

Erich laid down in the bed with a sigh, his eyes slowly closing. Cass came into the room, jumping on him, her breath smelling of whiskey, "Come on Erich, like old times, I could use a little fun before bed."

"You sure Cass? You remember our history." Erich said, putting his hands on her waist.

"I don't want to think about that, I just want to have fun for the night." Cass whined.

Erich helped her pull off her shirt, "Ok, if you can tell me, what specific rules you broke last time we were in a relationship, we can have fun for tonight."

Cass sighed, "No drinking without you and no other guys."

"Good." Erich said, taking off his own clothes.

Cass woke up, running her fingers over Erich's skin, "How much longer do we have this room?" She asked, groaning.

"Probably a few hours, but the Twins usually don't kick me out unless they have someone else trying to rent the room." Erich said, smiling at her.

"Well, I'd like a bit of fun, and then a short nap before heading out again." She sat up and rolled over onto Erich, her legs spread over him.

Erich walked out of the room having dressed them both. Cass leaned on him, "Come on, how did you manage to run a caravan like this?"

"You weren't in the Caravans." She said with a smirk, "No guy could tire me like you."

"You either need more or less to drink." Erich said, holding her tight to him as she dozed.

They walked to the front gate of the strip, the Securitrons rolled up to him, "Halt, you must submit to a credit check." Erich held out his remaining NCR bills, they looked over them, "You may pass." Erich pocketed his money, walking past the Securitrons. The gates opened and a man ran for them without passing the credit check.

He was shot down by the Securitrons.

"Third guy this week." Muttered old Ben off to the side.

Erich looked up to the lights of the casinos. He saw the sign he wanted and strode for the Tops. Victor stopped him, "Well howdy there Partner."

"Hey Victor, what are you doing here?" Erich asked.

"You know this Securitron?" Cass asked.

"Yeah, he helped save my life when I was shot." Erich explained.

"Well, the big man upstairs wants me to direct you to the Lucky 38." Victor said.

Erich blinked, "You mean to say that Mr. House wants me to meet him?"

"Yup." Victor confirmed.

"Like in person?" Erich asked.

"I don't really think there's another way you can meet him." Victor replied.

Erich thought for a minute, "Cass, we're going to the Lucky 38 first. I imagine the big boss wants to talk to me in person before I complete the big delivery." Erich walked up the walkway to the Lucky 38, Victor leading him.

"Oh, one more thing, your friend's gonna have to wait outside." Victor said apologetically.

Erich turned to Cass, "You ok with waiting outside?" Erich asked.

"Go on, I'll be fine." Cass said, sitting down on the walkway.

Erich nodded, the big doors slid out of the way. Erich walked through, pushing open the inner doors. He looked around at the abandoned casino, so much wasted potential. He hopped on the elevator and Victor took him up to the Penthouse floor.

Erich walked around, finding a giant screen with Mr. House's face.

"I had a feeling our meeting would be something like this. You're either a ghoul or on life support." Erich stated.

"Well, I will admit, my circumstances are a bit... Difficult." Mr. House said.

"I assume you were delaying my tracking of Benny because you had some insight on how to stop him at the Tops?" Erich asked.

"Ah, yes. So you know I am the client for the Platinum chip?" He asked.

"Only the Families or you could have done it, and there wouldn't be enough for Benny to gain from the other Families, so it had to be... You." Erich explained.

"Well it does seem you are more intelligent than the average Courier, which is good. Benny was my previous protégé-to-be. Until his recent misbehavior. Had I begun sooner, this might not have happened. You have served well so far. You prove your loyalty and you shall take his place."

"You... Want me to be your protégé? What sort of... Operation are you planning here? What exactly would make you want to take me... A courier, and give me all this." Erich questioned.

"The future, for you, and humanity." Mr. House began, "Give me 20 years with an economic furnace such as this and I'll have higher technology started up again, 50 years and I'll have people in orbit, 100 and my colony ships will go amongst the stars to find planets unpolluted by the wrath and folly of a bygone generation. I need a human protégé to perform certain... Tasks. You appear to be a more-than suitable protégé, brain, brawn, a will to achieve your aims, and most of all... Obedience."

"What's the NCR's part in all this?" Erich asked.

"They are simply customers, after I win this war, their people shall be allowed in, but I will be sending their military home." Mr. House said calmly.

Erich paused and thought, "Mr. House, I'll need to think a bit before accepting this offer, I will deliver the chip, but the other offer..."

"I understand, it is a bit much to take in all at once. We can speak more about this after you have delivered the chip." Mr. House said, his screen turning off.

Erich walked into the elevator of the Lucky 38, taking it down to the Casino floor. He walked out of the casino and sat next to Cass.

"So, what'd the big man want?" She asked.


	4. Bigger Man

Erich walked into the tops as the sun sank in the sky. Swank greeted him at the door, "Hey-"

"I'm on business from House, I'm sure you've already heard that I have seen the big man." Erich pushed past him.

"But- Your..."

Erich pulled out his pistol, "Do I need to inform Mister House that my business was interrupted by one of the Families' second in command?"

Swank gulped, turning away. Erich put away his gun and walked up to where Benny was surrounded by his bodyguards.

"Benny. We need to talk, in private, now. Yes people will be panicked, but I have thought about this for nearly a day. Come." Erich said.

"Whoa, baby-" Erich pushed past the bodyguards, grabbing Benny by his coat, he pressed him against the wall, guns trained on his head, "Hey, hey hey, take it easy. My boys here will shoot you up if you keep on like that."

"No use if you're dead." Erich said. Cass stood behind him, her rifle trained on the bodyguards, Swank on her heels. People began muttering.

"Easy, easy, now will everyone put their guns down?" Benny asked.

Cass put away her gun and Benny's bodyguards followed. Erich let go of Benny and stepped back.

Benny produced a key from his coat, "I'll comp you the presidential suite. We'll go there to talk now." He looked to the bodyguards and Cass, "Alone."

"Cass, you wait in the Lucky 38, they wouldn't dare kill you inside there." Erich said, looking to Benny.

Benny straightened his coat as they walked to the Elevator together. He hit the up button and the doors opened. He inserted the key and they went up to the presidential suite. Benny walked over to the bar, helping himself to a drink, "So, I assume you want to talk about your delivery?" He asked, taking a shot of whiskey.

"Listen, I know what it means to Mister House, and I have something I must say about it." Erich took a breath, "I don't think he's the person to be in charge."

"Oh?" Benny asked, "Who then?"

"I'm an NCR boy at heart, but I don't think they're ready for this now. I think we should be partners in this." Erich offered.

Benny's eyebrows raised, "No hard feelings on the bullet wounds then, eh?"

"Whatever that chip is. Mr House expects it to help him fix the world. And I believe him. But I don't think he would be suited to lead people." Erich said.

"You think I would?" Benny asked.

"Uneven partnership, I want to be the main man in charge. But I need you as something like a... Vice-President." Erich said.

"Whoa, you think you'll make ME VP?" Benny laughed.

"I think you'll take it or die." Erich said, "I doubt you'll let me keep all the power, so I can't let you leave the room without giving me the chip."

"Well then. I'm listening." Benny said.

"We'll become a state of NCR. The State of New Vegas. All of the Mojave under us. I'll let you take care of all the major dealings, and I'll just be there to come up with something every once in a while or veto a decision I don't like. Four years, we will have built our popularity enough that I can become president. You will be Vice President and we will spread the lights of New Vegas. We will have a government with an ever-expanding military force to augment our own, and we will improve past the old world and the new." Erich explained.

"You've certainly risen beyond a plain courier, haven't they?" Benny said, finishing his drink, "Well shit, you've convinced me." Benny fished the chip out of his jacket, holding it out for Erich, "Don't screw me." He said solemnly.

Erich took the platinum chip, pocketing it, "Thank you." He walked back to the elevator. He pressed the down button, taking it down to the casino. He left the casino, going back to the Lucky 38.

He opened the doors and saw Cass, sitting at one of the slot machines, "So, how'd it go?" She asked.

"Great, I'll talk to you later about it." Erich hurried to the elevator, taking it to the Penthouse. He loaded his guns with explosive shells.

He walked up to Mister House's monitor, "So, I assume you have the chip?"

Erich took it out of his pocket, holding it up next to his face.

"Good, now, about the other matter?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Erich put away the Platinum chip and reached into his coat for his pistol, he turned to the Securitron by the far wall, pulling out his pistol and grabbing his rifle. He aimed and fired, taking them both out with the first shots. He turned to face the other Securitrons, taking the ones next to the monitor with the next two bullets.

He turned to the entrance to face off against Victor and Jane. As soon as they rounded the corner, he dispensed of them.

"No matter, I have more Securitrons! I will have that Chip!" House shouted.

Erich walked over to the wall, activating the terminal, he hacked it, opening up the wall. There were more securitrons on the other side, Erich dispatched of them quickly. He had a bullet left in each clip. He hacked the terminal within, getting down to where Mister House was kept.

He walked in, and used the terminal to take away his control over the Vegas strip, "There we go, La-di-da. I will figure out what to do with you later. Right now you're worth more alive than dead." Erich said, leaving Mr. House in his chamber.

He walked out, looking at the blank screen, smiling. He walked up the stairs and went to the elevator, going back down to Cass, "Ok, let's go get Benny."

Cass nodded and followed him to the Tops. They walked in, Swank greeting them again, "Hey, Benny says you gotta go straight up to his room."

Erich nodded at him, walking to the elevator, taking it up to Benny's. He walked down the hall to Benny's room. Going to the back where Benny talked with Yes Man.

"Hey, look who's here." Benny said.

Erich tossed him the Platinum chip, "You take care of what you're supposed to do in the Lucky 38 with that, but wait to do anything else until I get back. I got other stuff I need to do." Erich said.

"Sure thing boss." Benny said with a nervous chuckle.

"What's with the robot?" Erich said.

"Yes Man. He's mine." Benny said.

"Yes Man." Erich said in a commanding tone.

"Yes Sir!" He said enthusiastically.

"My orders override Benny's, confirm." Erich ordered.

Yes Man looked to Benny who nodded sadly, "I guess so."

"If Benny does anything to try to get me killed, have him killed." Erich said, "And don't follow through with what he told you."

"Yes sir." he said less enthusiastically.

"Don't allow him to advance the plan beyond the Strip till I return." Erich ordered, "I want to be included in on the war. Unless the Strip is in immediate danger, do not attack anyone."

"Of course, whatever you say." Yes Man confirmed.

"Any other orders, you can follow through with. Also, no killing any of my friends." He added.

"Of course." Yes Man said.

Erich turned and walked out, heading out to the strip.


	5. War on Hold: Part One, Freeside Clean-up

Erich left the strip with Cass, the mark of Caesar and Ambassador Crocker's note in his pocket, "So what do you have to do outside the Strip?" she asked.

"Nothing, I'm procrastinating from tackling the war. The war is on standby until the stalemate is over and all sides have put me in charge of ending the stalemate. That gives me a month or two of completely inhibiting any progress of the war, and then a few weeks between major advancements." Erich nodded at a group of Kings that were hooting and hollering going towards the Wrangler.

"You really don't want the war to go on, do you?" Cass asked.

"No... I should take care of it in a few weeks though..." Erich said with a sigh.

Cass reached up, patting him on the back.

"Let's go see Julie about what I can do to clean up Freeside." Erich walked through the bus, heading to the old Mormon fort. He walked in through the big gates and found Julie's unmistakable spiked mohawk. He walked up, "Hey, Julie, I was wondering if there's anything I can help with here on Freeside." Erich said nervously.

"Oh, hi Erich, Usanagi said you would be coming." She pulled out a clipboard and looked it over, "There is always something needing done. A few souls here in Freeside could be great assets to the community, if they'd kick their addictions. We need to get a regular supply of medicine organized, but the Crimson Caravan wants too many caps for what we need. Lastly, tensions between the townies and NCR tourists have been going downhill fast lately. A lot of innocent people will get hurt if things blow up. That's about it for now." She looked over the top of her clipboard at Erich.

"Who do I need to get clean?" Erich asked.

"Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff." She said.

"Thanks." Erich said, turning and walking to the gate leading out to Freeside.

"Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff?" Cass asked.

"Bill Ronte was an engineer, Jacob Hoff was a chemist. We'll take care of Hoff first, get him cleaned up. Then we get Bill." Erich explained.

Cass nodded quietly.

"Luckily, I know where both of them hang out, I remember when they were clean, so I give them caps from time to time so they don't starve, about the only reason I carry caps." Erich commented. He led Cass to the crumbling building outside Mick and Ralph's. He walked up to Jacob, "Hoff."

"Hey Erich, got any caps for me, maybe some chems?" He asked, sitting in a pile of his own filth.

Erich crouched down, "Julie sent me to get you off the chems."

"Julie is a saint, but I don't need help. I feel young and strong so long as I get my chems." He replied.

"Julie needs your help, you could make fixer and other chems to help fix up Freeside." Erich said.

"But-" he began.

"Jake, I know how you're feeling. I could get you some psycho, buffout and fixer so you could be feeling better tomorrow."

"I uhh... I never thought of doing that combination before, ok, bring me the chems and I'll go to the Fort to clean up and rest." He said.

Erich nodded and walked over to Dixon, "Hey, Dixon, I need psycho, buffout and fixer. The good shit, none of that shit you make."

"All right Erich, something to stop the shakes eh? Need some Jet too man?" Dixon said, pulling out the chems.

"No, thanks though." Erich pulled out the NCR money, handing him a small pile. Dixon counted out his change and handed it to him with the chems.

Erich began walking back to Hoff.

"What the hell was that?" Cass demanded.

"I was a chem addict a year ago, it was easier to make the deliveries shot up with psycho and buffout. It was easier to go without sleep with jet. It also allowed me to make more deliveries quicker, so it was a net gain. I saw however that it took more and more to keep up and when I started falling in the hole, I made sure to quit. Some doctor walking the mojave offered me a quick cure for my addiction, I took it because it wasn't that expensive. I watched him mix it, and when I woke up the next day, no addiction. Been clean since." Erich explained.

"So Dixon was your dealer?" She asked.

"When I came up this way." Erich walked into the building, setting the chems and caps in front of Jacob, "There, go get cleaned up." Jacob nodded and stood, picking up the chems and money and running off to the fort. Erich turned to Cass, "If I know Bill, he's been drinking. That's a bit different, we'll need whiskey and fixer." Erich said. He walked back to Dixon, "Dixon, I need some more fixer, two more hits oughta do it." he said, pulling out a few more bills. The money and chems exchanged hands.

Erich shook his hand and walked off to the Wrangler, He put money on the counter, "I'm gonna need three bottles of whiskey." Francine nodded, putting the bottles on the counter and counting his money. She nodded, counting out his change. He took the caps and the whiskey and walked out the door. He opened two of the bottles of whiskey and dumped out just enough for the fixer. He put in the fixer and sloshed it all together. He capped the whiskey, "He's gonna be sick tomorrow."

Erich took the three bottles and went over next to the Wrangler where Bill was hanging out.

"Hey Erich, got some whiskey for me?" He asked.

"Yeah, the good shit, not that crap that Dixon's been giving you." Erich set the bottle without fixer in it down next to him.

Bill opened it up, "Thanks man, but this won't help the sickness." Bill took a large gulp of whiskey with a smile on his face.

Erich tossed a few caps to Bill before sitting next to him, "Here, use that to buy some of Dixon's shit to ease off the symptoms." Cass walked away.

Bill picked up the caps, "Thanks, what happened to your lady friend?"

"She doesn't like seeing men in your position, it makes her too sad." Erich leaned against the wall, facing him, "Which brings me to why I'm here... Julie sent me, she wants you to sober up."

"Well, you're not doing a very good job." Bill said, taking another swig.

"Well, you see those other two bottles?" Erich asked.

"Yeah." Bill said, setting down the bottle he had.

"I put a dose of fixer in each. If you take it in lessening doses, it'll slowly get rid of your withdrawl. It'll suck, but it will help. You can take it and go back to the Fort, where you're appreciated." Erich stood up, "Or you could stay here, use the money I gave you to get more of Dixon's shit. Live and die here, begging money off of gamblers to keep from turning inside out from the poison that Dixon has been feeding you." He walked away. Cass was leaning against the Atomic Wrangler's door, he tapped her shoulder, "Come on, let's go."

She looked to see Bill walking to the Fort, his two bottles of Fixer whiskey in hand. They walked behind the Fort, "How did you know he would go?"

"He liked being appreciated. He liked the way Julie talked to him. He just needed a push." Erich explained. He walked over to Dixon, "Dixon... We need to talk." Erich grabbed him with his left hand, he turned, grabbing him with his right as well. He lifted Dixon up.

"Hey, hey, put me down, what do you want, I gave you your chems!" He reached for the knife in his pocket, Erich pulled it away, tossing it aside.

"You need to stop selling the poisoned shit you got. I got no problems with you selling chems, but the shit you sell, needs to be only the real deal, capiche!?" He shouted, shaking Dixon.

"How am I supposed to make money only selling decent chems? People don't got the money for that shit around here!" Dixon protested.

"You figure it out! I'm coming back in a week, and if I find out you're still selling the poisoned shit, I'll kill you." Erich dropped him, turning and walking away. He began muttering, "Give me a reason, give me a reason." _1, 2, 3, 4, 5._

Dixon gave him that reason, he drew his gun and pointed it at Erich.

Erich turned, drawing his own pistol, he fired the explosive round left in the chamber. There were two bangs and a gaping hole where Dixon once had a neck. Erich reloaded his pistol with his normal jacketed homemade rounds. He felt the weight of his gun and put it away.

Cass turned and ground her teeth, "Fucker deserved it." She said gruffly.

Erich nodded, "Lets go back to the Tops for the night, we get to stay there for free now." Erich grabbed Cass by the arm, leading her around Dixon's corpse, back to the Strip.


	6. War on Hold: Part Two, Freeside part two

Cass crawled out of bed, "Erich, I need breakfast!" She shouted unnecessarily. Erich groaned as he rolled over, falling over onto the floor.

"Bed's too fucking small." He grunted, standing up, "Well, the Tops has some of the finest cuisine found on the strip, so lets get a brahmin steak or something, Wasteland omelet maybe." He said, walking over to his clothes on the floor. He got dressed and looked over to Cass, sitting naked on the floor, "You know, I don't know if the Tops would approve of you traipsing around naked, but I definitely do not."

Cass frowned, reaching for her clothes, "I thought you liked looking at me naked."

"I like me looking at you naked, I don't like anyone else having the same privilege." Erich said dryly.

Having had breakfast they went out to Freeside, "So, we're supposed to get more supplies for the followers? The Garret Twins will do just fine." Erich said with a smile, walking over to the Wrangler. He walked in the door, both James and Francine were working behind the counter, Hadrian was up on stage, telling jokes and there were very few people eating in the restaurant. There was a single couple gambling. Erich walked up to James, "James, the followers need supplies. You're my man, right?"

James looked at him quizzically, "Really now? This is news. We could possibly supply what they need, but they would need to supply us in kind. They have the tech know-how to make our stills work more efficiently. Purer alcohol means we can get our customers drunk quicker. Getting our customers drunk quicker means more caps spent at the tables and stuffing slots if you know what I mean. Plus, the extra alcohol can serve as surgical disinfectant for their needs. The Followers are a good lot. They've stitched up our boys in the past."

"I could work something out." Erich said confidently.

"Good. We can supply them with all the Med-X they need. For the Fixer, we'll only be able to send over some basic drug components. We're not in the business of getting people off drugs, so we don't really dabble in that side of things. The Followers should be able to whip some up with what we have available, though. They just need to agree to fix up our stills and keep them maintained plus cover the cost for raw materials needed to make the alcohol." James offered.

Erich held out his hand and James shook it, "Good talking with you, I'll be back after I talk with Julie." Erich left the Wrangler, walking through the bus to the old fort. He entered the gate and found the mohawk, "Julie, the Garrets have agreed to a trade in resources in exchange for supporting you."

"What!" She said incredulously, "What do they want?"

"Upgraded stills, and caps to cover the cost of the raw materials used to make the alcohol. In exchange they'll give you Med-X, components of fixer and distilled alcohol for disinfectant." Erich explained.

"That would allow them to make more alcohol and drugs, the cycle of addiction would continue!" Julie said angrily.

"With all your extra money and chems, you'd be able to use your influence to expand your operations until you could work independent of them." Erich offered.

She paused and thought about it, "Good point, we could send them food waste to distill so that we don't have to pay them for our ethanol... We wouldn't be losing caps, so we could put money into helping freeside. Tell the Garrets they have a deal. Thank you, I'll let Usanagi know what a big help you've been." She said with a smile, running off to a new recruit.

Erich walked back to the Wrangler, opening the door, he sat down at the bar, "James, good news, Ronte will be getting sent here just as soon as he has recovered to upgrade your stills and they've decided to provide you with the required ingredients to make the alcohol rather than pay for it."

"That works for me, thanks" James said.

Erich nodded, "Now to find out what the deal is with the increased violence, for that... We need to talk to the King." Erich went out to Freeside, walking over to the King's School of Impersonation.

He walked in and Pacer stopped him outside the theater, "Hey, no one gets in to see the King without making a contribution."

"Pacer, it's me, if you don't let me past, the only contribution that I will be making..." He reached into his coat and pulled out his gun, laying it on Pacer's head, "Is a bullet."

"Whoa, whoa, easy there Erich. Go in." He said, stepping aside. Erich pushed his way through and walked over to the King, "Hey there King, Julie said there was trouble brewing in Freeside, I'm here to help stop it."

"Oh, hey, you're the big man who's been helping out here, you went in to see House, right? Well then sonny, I can help you. But you gotta prove you're up to the challenge. There's a bodyguard named Orris, he drums up a lot of repeat business, once people use him, they're not willing to use anyone else. Find out about him, here's the money for his payment." He pulled out a bag of caps and Erich grimaced, "Get back to me after you do whatever and then we'll talk."

Erich nodded and left, cap bag in hand. He walked out to the East gate and circled around to the North gate. He entered and walked up to Orris, "Hey, I heard you're a good bodyguard, feel like protecting me while I go to the Strip?" He said, holding out the bag of caps.

Orris drew his gun and pointed it at Erich, "I know about you, just back o-"

Erich drew his own gun and shot Orris in the hand, "If you're pointing a gun at someone, you better be ready to shoot, not just threaten."

Orris screamed, clutching his missing hand, "The fuck!" He screamed again.

Erich crouched and began to speak lowly, "The King sent me to investigate how you drum up repeat business, tell me how and I'll let you live."

"Fuck man, you're serious?" Erich pointed his gun at Orris again and his eyes grew wide as Erich slowly put his hand on the trigger, "Ok, ok, I just hire some thugs to stage an attack and fake dying! Please don't kill me!" He sobbed.

Erich put his gun away and stood up, "Go to the Followers, they'll get you patched up, I have to go and report to the King." Erich walked down the main drag of Freeside, back to the King's school of Impersonation. He walked over to the King, "Hey, King, good news, bad news time." The King looked up to him and raised an eyebrow, "Good news is, I know how Orris drummed up repeat business. Bad news is he threatened me, so I had to shoot him. He's alive, but his credibility will be ruined, I doubt he'll get any more repeat business with only his left hand." Erich explained.

"Oh... I see. What was the problem if I may ask, I don't want to think you shot him for nothing." The King said with a sigh.

"He staged attacks with some thugs around Freeside." Erich explained, tossing the sack of caps back to the King, "He wouldn't take my money, so I'll let you have it back." Erich said calmly.

"I see." The King handed the caps back to him, "Keep it." He said. Erich nodded, putting the caps away, "The Locals are resenting the amount of Squatters that are coming in, they've gotten ornery about being resented, so violence has been brewing between the NCR citizens and the Locals. Some Locals have fallen victim and are at the Fort, you should talk to them about who did it."

Erich nodded and sighed as he walked over to the Fort. He walked to the tents, "Hey, The King sent me."

"Oh, the King? What does he want?" Roy said, perking up.

"I'm supposed to track down the men who attacked you." Erich explained.

"Anything you want to know." He said.

"I need to know what they looked like, their names, anything." Erich said.

"Well, they were in the Squatter side of town, we wandered over there after getting drunk at the Wrangler, it was two big guys. I don't know anything other than that because I was facedown in the dirt most of it, Wayne saw more." he said, pointing to Wayne.

Erich turned to him.

"Well, they were better dressed than most of the Squatters, but I can't remember much of anything else, they got me pretty bad." Wayne said nervously, "Is that enough?"

"Every little bit helps, thank you."

"Oh, right, one of them called the other by name, 'Lou Tenant' I think." Wayne said.

Erich rubbed his temples, "Soldiers..." He stalked back to the King, "Soldiers did it! Soldiers! One called the other by rank!" Erich shouted, kicking over a table. Cass put her hands on him.

"Easy there Erich. Take a breath, then go check out where the NCR folk hang, so you can clear this up. You might want to talk to Julie first, she might have some information." The King said.

Erich huffed and walked back to the Mormon Fort, "Julie!" He shouted.

She peaked her head outside of a tent and walked over to Erich, "You know, there's no need for shouting."

"NCR troops have been causing some trouble here in Freeside, I need to go see someone about why and how to stop the violence." He explained.

"Oh, you should speak to Elizabeth Kieran, she's in charge of operations here in Freeside. Mention my name and she'll be a little more forthcoming. Is there anything el-"

Erich walked away and Julie sighed. He left the Fort and looked around for the NCR missionaries, he found one.

"Oh, are you an NCR citizen? We're offering free meals."

"Elizabeth Kieran is in charge of this, correct?" Erich asked.

"Of course, but I'll need to ask a few simple questions to verify that you're a citizen." He explained.

"Kimbell is the current president, Tandi was the most popular and her father was the founder. Aradesh made the capitol city on Shady Sands, and they fought a war against the Enclave when Tandi was elderly." Erich pulled out his NCR money, "Would you like me to identify our dead presidents by name?"

The Missionary held up his hands in mock surrender, "Relax, you're obviously a citizen. The soup kitchen is in the train station area, the password is hope. Elizabeth will be inside if you wish to talk to her."

Erich nodded, stomping over to the soup kitchen, "Hope." He said as he reached for the door. He opened it and walked in, going back to Elizabeth. She held out some food for him. He held up his hand, "Why not give this to someone more needy, such as the starving Locals?"

Elizabeth sighed, "That's a sensitive subject."

"Julie said you were the one to talk about, was she wrong?" Erich asked.

"Oh, Julie... She's a good kid... Well... We sent an envoy to the Kings and it came back beat up, the NCR now won't give us enough to feed both Locals and Citizens, so we just serve citizens.." She said with a frown.

Erich nodded, "Thank you for your time." Erich walked more calmly back to the Kings. He walked in the front door, "Pacer." He said, staring Pacer down, "I'm in no mood for your shit, it was wrong of you to beat up the NCR envoy!" Erich said. He pushed past him, going to the King, "The NCR has a soup kitchen running, they would have served Locals, but Pacer had them beaten up."

"That's an awfully high accusation... Wait..." a King walked up to him.

"King, we got a problem at the Trainyard." He explained, "There's a shoot-out between Pacer and the NCR soldiers."

"What! Erich, defuse the situation, tell them I'm willing to cooperate!" Erich dashed out the door, running to the trainyard.

He walked up to Kieran, "Kieran! Stop shooting! The King wants to cooperate."

"Why did my envoy get attacked?"

"Pacer, think about it, could the King have power over Freeside if he was this stupid?!" Erich shouted at her.

Kieran thought for a moment, "Ceasefire." She ordered, "We're gonna send another envoy to work something out with the Kings."

Erich nodded and ran back to the King, "Elizabeth has agreed to work things out with you."

"I see... I guess it's time for a little more talking and a little less fighting. Thank you. For this, you can have one favor from me."

"Just stop the fighting." Erich said, walking away. He leaned on Sharon as he walked back to the Strip, going to the Tops, he was emotionally exhausted and needed a nap.


	7. War on Hold: Part Three, Escape to BigMT

Erich woke up after his long sleep and rolled off the bed with a sigh, "Cass!" He shouted.

"In here!" she shouted back, "I found the kitchen!" Sure enough, Erich could smell an omelet cooking.

He sighed again and walked towards where her voice was coming from, "Cass... I have to go away for a while. I need to be alone... Do you know what I mean?" He asked.

She sighed, "Yeah... I guess I'm ok with it. Make sure you come back to me." She said, leaning on his chest and attempting to wrap her arms around him, barely able to lock her fingers behind his back.

"Don't you remember?" Erich said, "I'm immortal" He teased.

She pulled one of her hands from behind his back and reached up, jabbing him in the forehead, "You come back!" she shouted.

Erich winced as she poked the healing wound, "Fine, fine." He said in pain. He went back and got dressed, putting on his glasses, holstering his guns.

He walked out of his suite at the tops, going down to the casino level. He walked into the restaurant and sat at the bar, "Ok, I want... Carrot juice with a crushed jalapeño in it with scotch, blended into one large glass and add a whole lakelurk egg to it."

The bartender nodded, "One wasteland breakfast coming up." He said with a smile, leaving to go make the drink.

The bartender returned and handed Erich his drink, Erich handed him four 20 NCR bills, taking his change in the two bottlecaps the bartender handed back. Erich downed his drink quickly, nodding before heading out of the restaurant and out to the strip. He looked around the strip and walked out, walked out past freeside, and began to walk south, his walk developed into a jog as he craved being away from it all.

It was dark by the time he reached Nipton. He looked at the ruined city, ruined by the legion, the burning tires still sending black smoke into the sky. He sat on the steps of the city hall, looking even further south. It was dark, and he could see a light. He stood and looked through his sniper scope at the light. There was a billboard and it was lit up, an eye moved on screen. Erich put away his gun and began to walk towards the screen. He saw the source of the projection, a downed satellite. He walked up close to it and touched it gingerly. It flashed and he lost consciousness.


End file.
